Genomic study identifies subgroups of breast cancer with varying sensitivities to treatment

Jan. 17, 2014 — Research led by the Translational Genomics Group at Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO) in Barcelona has not only shown that HER2+ breast cancer can be classified into four different subtypes, but also unmasked a subtype showing both a greater response to and increased benefit from chemotherapy and anti-HER2 therapy. Such newly, refined classification of different tumor subtypes will ultimately facilitate more effective treatment tailored to a specific tumor as well as advance targeted therapy against HER2+ breast cancer.

The study led by Aleix Prat, Principal Investigator of VHIO’s Translational Genomics Group, in collaboration with Jose Baselga, Physician-in-Chief of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York (USA), has today been published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research. The research centers on the fact that not all HER2+ tumors respond in the same way to anti-HER2 targeted therapy. Although tumors disappear in many patients, others show no response or become resistant to anti-HER2 therapy in combination with chemotherapy. This observation led to this present retrospective study of patients treated in the phase III NOAH clinical trial, with the objective of establishing the genomic differences of both the treatment-sensitive and the treatment-resistant tumors.

Determining the molecular subtype of any breast cancer is fundamental. Until recently, breast cancer had been classified into three groups according to the presence or absence of hormone receptors and the HER2 receptor: hormone-sensitive, HER2+ and triple-negative (when not included in either of these first two groups). Over recent years however, largely thanks to the stunning advancements in genomic technologies, this classification has been finely-tuned and subsequently shown that there are at least four major breast cancer subtypes (Luminal A, Luminal B, HER2-enriched and Basal-Like). Last year, this very group of researchers refined the classification of hormone-sensitive tumors by genomics.

In this study, the group focuses on HER2+ disease. HER2+ breast cancer affects 20% of women with breast cancer and is characterized by the presence of a large number of HER2 receptors and increased proliferative activity of the respective tumor cells -- all of which translates in a highly aggressive tumor and the consequent increased risk of relapse and cancer-related death. The development of HER2-targeted therapies, such as Trastuzumab or Lapatinib, has greatly improved the prospects and treatment options for patients suffering from this particular type of cancer. However, HER2+ breast cancer is still considered as a single subgroup and receives a similar kind of treatment overall, despite the fact that not all HER2+ breast cancer patients respond equally to such therapy.

This new study evaluated the response of the different molecular subtypes upon treatment with anti-HER2 therapy. The study reveals that the four genomic subtypes in breast cancer (Luminal A, Luminal B, HER2-enriched and Basal-like) are also found in HER2+ breast cancer, and they affect treatment response. "Specifically, we have found that HER2+ tumors in the HER2-enriched subtype have a highly activated HER2 signaling pathway, thereby making them especially sensitive to anti-HER2 targeted therapies such as Trastuzumab. Therefore, among the four defined subtypes, HER2-enriched benefits most from specific anti-HER2 therapy" explains Aleix Prat.

Establishing the genomic and clinical particularities between each of the subtypes may firstly drive more individually tailored treatment strategies, leading in turn to more robust treatment for those who stand to benefit from it. Second, more effectively targeted treatments may also be facilitated for those patients who may benefit from this strategy and thus ultimately receive a more personalized, precise therapy, resulting in better and longer survival. The PAMELA study led by Prat through the support of a Susan G. Komen Foundation grant, involving various Spanish sites coordinated by the SOLTI cooperative research group, will aim to address the latter. The PAMELA study's primary objective is to identify those patients with HER2-positive tumors who can be cured with anti-HER2 biological therapies without the need for chemotherapy.

Cancer genomics: research translated to the clinic

"There is no doubt that gene expression in breast cancer provides us with essential biological information to better determine the diagnosis, treatment, relapse risk and possibilities of survival" says Aleix Prat, "From this moment on, treatment strategies should be based on prior molecular characterization of the tumor, and we must therefore make every effort to ensure accuracy. Genomic tests provide such accuracy and are increasingly being used in daily practice. There really is no other option if we are to continue to combat cancer," he concludes.

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Tanning Salons Now Outnumber McDonald's Outlets in Florida: Study

Indoor tanning has strong ties to skin cancer and Florida has one of the highest rates of the disease

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Solar activity not a key cause of climate change, study shows

Dec. 22, 2013 — Climate change has not been strongly influenced by variations in heat from the sun, a new scientific study shows.

The findings overturn a widely held scientific view that lengthy periods of warm and cold weather in the past might have been caused by periodic fluctuations in solar activity.

Research examining the causes of climate change in the northern hemisphere over the past 1000 years has shown that until the year 1800, the key driver of periodic changes in climate was volcanic eruptions. These tend to prevent sunlight reaching Earth, causing cool, drier weather. Since 1900, greenhouse gases have been the primary cause of climate change.

The findings show that periods of low sun activity should not be expected to have a large impact on temperatures on Earth, and are expected to improve scientists' understanding and help climate forecasting.

Scientists at the University of Edinburgh carried out the study using records of past temperatures constructed with data from tree rings and other historical sources. They compared this data record with computer-based models of past climate, featuring both significant and minor changes in the sun.

They found that their model of weak changes in the sun gave the best correlation with temperature records, indicating that solar activity has had a minimal impact on temperature in the past millennium.

The study, published in Nature GeoScience, was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council.

Dr Andrew Schurer, of the University of Edinburgh's School of GeoSciences, said: "Until now, the influence of the sun on past climate has been poorly understood. We hope that our new discoveries will help improve our understanding of how temperatures have changed over the past few centuries, and improve predictions for how they might develop in future. Links between the sun and anomalously cold winters in the UK are still being explored."

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Many Lung Cancer Tumors May Prove Harmless, Study Finds

Research suggests CT scan screening might lead to needless worry, treatment in these cases

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Large study links nut consumption is reduced mortality.

Who ate nuts daily of the largest study of its kind, a handful were 20 percent less and were people who did not consume nuts so the Dana contains the report published in the New England Journal of medicine, say scientists from the Harvard School of Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and women's Hospital and public health more than die by any cause over a period of 30 years is even better news. Regular nut-eaters found is thinner than people who did not eat the nuts, may find that eating more nuts will need to reduce the widespread concerns on obesity.

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Multicenter study underscores need for uniform approach to bladder cancer

Nov. 15, 2013 — New study, involving eight Italian research centres, concluded that an aligned approach to the treatment of advanced bladder cancer is much needed, while confirming previously published results on survival estimates of associated salvage therapies.

According to the lead author, Dr. Francesco Atzori, progress in developing new effective drugs in bladder cancer has been stagnant in the last decades.

"In patients who recur or who are refractory to first-line therapy, response rates and outcomes are grim, and to date, no second-line therapy has been clearly established," he explained.

The authors state that while upfront chemotherapy (CT) confers over 50% response rate, progression free survival and overall survival rates are still dismal. While vinflunine is approved by the EMA for progressive bladder cancer after platinum-based therapy, the US FDA has no approved agents.

In the course of the study, the researchers retrospectively queried all patients receiving 2nd and 3rd line regimens in Italy in the period between 2001 and 2013. The inclusion criteria included failure of one or two prior CT regimens for metastatic disease and no exclusion of specific salvage regiments, including targeted agents. Distribution of treatments and outcome parameters were the primary endpoints.

The authors identified a total of 160 eligible pts across 8 centers nationwide. Median age was 67 years (IQR 39-82), most frequent sites of disease at relapse were: nodes 71% (nodes only 43, 26.9%); lung 30%, bone 26% and liver 20%. Bellmunt Score available in 147 out of 160 patients was 0, 1, 2 and 3 in 63 (43%), 59 (40%), 20 (14%) and 5 (3%) patients respectively.

Regiments used as upfront CT were cisplatin-gemcitabine in 65 patients (41%), carboplatin-G in 50 patients (31%), MVAC in 25 patients (16%), other combination CT in 5 patients (3%) and single-agent CT in 15 patients (9%).

In 2nd line 42 patients (26%) received paclitaxel, 40 (25%) vinflunine, 21 (13%) pazopanib, 10 (6%) MVAC, 47 (29%) other drugs alone or combined.

75 out of 160 patients (47%) received a 3rd line regimen: 19 (25%) paclitaxel, 15 (20%) pazopanib, 11 (15%) MVAC, 30 patients (40%) miscellaneous. Median time-to-relapse to 1st line was 2 months. Overall response rate in 2nd line was 21% (32 out of 160 patients) and 21% in 3rd line (16 out of 75 patients); median progression-free survival was 2,8 and 2 months in 2nd and 3rd line respectively, median overall survival was 16 months and 20 months, in 2nd and 3rd lines respectively. Patients treated with paclitaxel and vinflunine in 2nd line showed a median progression free survival of 2.7 and 3.3 months while overall survival was 13.5 and 13.4 months respectively.

The results of this study will be presented at the European Multidisciplinary Meeting on Urological Cancers, in Marceille, France, on 15-17 November 2013.

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Burkitt's Lymphoma of the NIH study found low-intensity therapy is very effective

Known as an excellent long term survival rate have of adult patients with burkitt's lymphoma cancer type-90% or more-treated with low intensity regimen, according to the discovery of a new clinical trial in below. Burkitt's lymphoma is the most aggressive type of lymphoma cancer begins in the cells of the immune system.

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FDA approved anti fatal form of the antidepressant battle study found lung

Anti use of antidepressant drugs small class Stanford University School of medicine, Stanford University Cancer Institute (home) of according to new research from researchers during the fight against a particularly deadly form of lung cancer, potentially effective displays. Medicines for human use by the United States food and Drug Administration already approved, so researchers can launch clinical trials to test their theories in patients soon has been.

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Study of 'sister' stem cells uncovers new cancer clue

Sep. 26, 2013 — Scientists have used a brand new technique for examining individual stem cells to uncover dramatic differences in the gene expression levels -- which genes are turned 'up' or 'down'- between apparently identical 'sister' pairs.

The research, published today in Stem Cell Reports, was conducted and funded by The Institute of Cancer Research, London. It provides the latest evidence that despite having identical DNA, sister stem cells can display considerable differences in their molecular characteristics.

The study showed that DNA methylation, a process that controls which genes are expressed in cells, plays an important role in generating non-genetic (or 'epigenetic') differences between sister cells.

DNA methylation could therefore be one of the reasons for the major molecular variation between different cancer cells in the same tumour -- and drugs to reduce methylation might help control variation and make cancers easier to treat.

In the new research, scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) developed a novel micro-dissection technique to separate pairs of sister embryonic stem cells for single cell RNA analysis [1].

Using their new high-tech method, researchers separated and isolated mouse stem cells from their sister pairs and measured the behaviour of key genes known to be expressed in those cells. By comparing which of these genes were up -- or down -- regulated, they determined the levels of similarity between sister cells at the molecular level for the first time.

They found that under normal conditions, pairs of sister stem cells displayed considerable differences to each other, showing nearly as much diversity as two cells from different sister pairs.

The researchers then looked at cells grown in the presence of a chemical cocktail called 2i, which reverts cells back to their most primitive stem cell state where they can make identical copies of themselves. They found that the cells had reduced levels of two enzymes critical for DNA methylation and they produced more similar sister cells.

The results suggest that DNA methylation is a major cause of the diversity between sister cells when they divide.

Dr Tomoyuki Sawado, leader of the Stem Cells and Chromatin Team at The Institute of Cancer Research, said: "Embryonic stem cell division is generally believed to be a symmetrical process, but what we found was that sister cells are actually often quite different from one another.

"We used a new technique to separate paired stem cells combined with assays that measure RNA in individual cells. Our research showed that sister stem cells display considerable differences in which genes are expressed. These differences are advantageous for normal stem cells in their constantly changing environment, and in cancer cells, the same characteristics can enable them to evade treatments. If we can control a process like DNA methylation that creates diversity in cell populations, we could create more efficient treatments for cancer."

Professor Mel Greaves, Professor of Cell Biology at The Institute of Cancer Research, said: "How stem cells regulate expression of their genes is crucial to many fundamental biological processes, such as embryonic development, regeneration and turnover of blood, skin and other tissues in the body, but especially to cancer.

"One of the biggest challenges in cancer treatment is overcoming drug resistance. Research from the ICR has revealed that the cells of individual tumours are remarkably diverse and this new research highlights one way this might be achieved. The inherent variability of cancer cell populations provides them with the flexibility to adapt and survive even when confronted with innovative new drugs. If we could harness these new insights to restrict the diversity of cancer cells it would substantially increase the prospects for effective control or eradication of cancer."

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Commonly prescribed statin linked to memory impairment, study in rats suggests

Sep. 25, 2013 — New research that looked at whether two commonly prescribed statin medicines, used to lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or 'bad cholesterol' levels in the blood, can adversely affect cognitive function has found that one of the drugs tested caused memory impairment in rats.

Between six and seven million people in the UK1 take statins daily and the findings follow anecdotal evidence of people reporting that they feel that their newly prescribed statin is affecting their memory. Last year, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) insisted that all manufacturers list in their side effects that statins might affect cognitive function.

The study, led by scientists at the University of Bristol and published in the journal PLOS ONE, tested pravastatin and atorvostatin (two commonly prescribed statins) in rat learning and memory models. The findings show that while no adverse cognitive effects were observed in rat performance for simple learning and memory tasks for atorvostatin, pravastatin impaired their performance.

Rats were treated daily with pravastatin (brand name -- pravachol) or atorvostatin (brand name -- Lipitor) for 18 days. The rodents were tested in a simple learning task before, during and after treatment, where they had to learn where to find a food reward. On the last day of treatment and following one week withdrawal, the rats were also tested in a task which measures their ability to recognise a previously encountered object (recognition memory).

The study's findings showed that pravastatin tended to impair learning over the last few days of treatment although this effect was fully reversed once treatment ceased. However, in the novel object discrimination task, pravastatin impaired object recognition memory. While no effects were observed for atorvostatin in either task.

The results suggest that chronic treatment with pravastatin impairs working and recognition memory in rodents. The reversibility of the effects on stopping treatment is similar to what has been observed in patients, but the lack of effect of atorvostatin suggests that some types of statin may be more likely to cause cognitive impairment than others.

Neil Marrion, Professor of Neuroscience at Bristol's School of Physiology and Pharmacology and the study's lead author, said: "This finding is novel and likely reflects both the anecdotal reports and FDA advice. What is most interesting is that it is not a feature of all statins. However, in order to better understand the relationship between statin treatment and cognitive function, further studies are needed."

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Drinking Locations Factor Into Partner Violence, Study Says

TUESDAY, Sept. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Specific drinking locations and situations are linked with different types of partner violence, a new study finds.

The study included more than 1,500 couples in California who were asked about their drinking in six locations: restaurants; bars; parties at someone else's home; quiet evenings at home; with friends in one's own home; and in parks and other public places.

Men drinking in bars and at parties away from home and women drinking in parks and other public places were both associated with increased male-to-female violence, said the researchers from the Prevention Research Center in California and Arizona State University.

The investigators also identified a link between men drinking during quiet evenings at home and increased female-to-male violence, according to the study in the Sept. 23 issue of the journal Addiction.

It's long been known that the risk of partner violence increases with the frequency of drinking and the amount of alcohol consumed, a journal news release noted. These findings show that different types of drinking locations and situations also affect the chances of partner violence.

In terms of prevention, it may be possible to reduce drinking-related violence against spouses and partners by encouraging people in risky relationships to avoid drinking in certain locations and situations.

This type of advice could be more effective in the short term than counseling people to drink less, the authors suggested in the news release.

More information

The American Psychiatric Association has more about domestic violence.

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Is this my finger? Sensory illusion study provides new insight for body representation brain disorders

Sep. 22, 2013 — People can be easily tricked into believing an artificial finger is their own, shows a study published today [23 September] in The Journal of Physiology. The results reveal that the brain does not require multiple signals to build a picture body ownership, as this is the first time the illusion has been created using sensory inputs from the muscle alone.

The discovery provides new insight into clinical conditions where body representation in the brain is disrupted due to changes in the central or peripheral nervous systems e.g. stroke, schizophrenia and phantom limb syndrome following amputation.

Professor Simon Gandevia, Deputy Director of Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA), says: "It may seem silly to ask yourself whether your index finger is part of your body. However, our current findings demonstrate that this question has led to important insights into key brain functions.

"These findings could lead to new clinical interventions where the addition or the removal of specific sensory stimuli is used to change someone's body image."

In the experiment, subjects held an artificial finger with their left hand that was located 12 cm above their right index finger. Vision was eliminated and anaesthesia was used to numb the skin and remove feelings of joint movement. When the artificial finger and the right index finger were moved synchronously, subjects reported they were holding their own index finger: the brain incorrectly incorporated the artificial finger into its internal body representation.

The human brain uses sensory signals to maintain and update internal representation of the body, to plan and generate movements and interact with the world. The study gives new understanding as to how the brain decides what is part of our own body and where it is located. Contrary to previous theories which used multiple sensory inputs including touch and vision, these results demonstrate that messages coming from muscle receptors are enough to change the internal body representation.

The team additionally found a new type of sensory 'grasp illusion' in which perceived distances between index fingers decreases when subjects hold an artificial finger. This implies that the brain generates possible scenarios and tests them against available sensory information.

Professor Gandevia says: "Grasping the artificial finger induces a sensation in some subjects that their hands are level with one another, despite being 12 cm apart. This illusion demonstrates that our brain is a thoughtful (yet at times gullible!) decision maker: it uses available sensory information and memories of past experiences to decide what scenario is most likely (i.e. 'my hands are level')."

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Study helps deconstruct estrogen's role in memory

Sep. 18, 2013 — The loss of estrogens at menopause increases a woman's risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease, yet hormone replacement therapy can cause harmful side effects.

Knowing the exact mechanism of estrogen activation in the brain could lead to new targets for drug development that would provide middle-aged women the cognitive benefits of hormone replacement therapy without increasing their risk for cardiovascular disease or breast cancer.

In a new study, Karyn Frick, professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM), uncovers details about estrogen's role in the complex cellular communication system underlying memory formation.

"The receptor mechanisms that regulate estrogen's ability to enhance memory are still poorly understood," says Frick. "With this study, we've begun to sort out several of the key players needed for estrogens to mediate memory formation."

The research, published in the the Journal of Neuroscience today, focused on estrogen effects in a brain region called the hippocampus, which deteriorates with age or Alzheimer's disease. The researchers found that each of the two known estrogen receptors rapidly activate a specific cellular pathway necessary for memory formation in the hippocampus of female mice, but only if they interact with a certain glutamate receptor, called mGluR1.

The study revealed that when this glutamate receptor is blocked, the cell-signaling protein ERK cannot be activated by the potent estrogen, 17β-estradiol. Because ERK activation is necessary for memory formation, estradiol failed to enhance memory among mice in which mGluR1 was blocked.

Frick's team also found evidence that estrogen receptors and mGluR1 physically interact at the cell membrane, allowing estradiol to influence memory formation within seconds to minutes. Collectively, the data provide the first evidence that the rapid signaling initiated by such interactions is essential for estradiol to enhance memory regulated by the hippocampus.

"Our data suggesting that interactions between estrogen receptors and mGluR1 at the cell membrane are critical for estradiol to enhance memory provides important new information about how estrogens regulate memory formation," Frick says.

"Because membrane proteins are better targets for drug development than proteins inside the cell, these data could lead to a new generation of therapies that provide the cognitive benefits of estrogens without harmful side effects."

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Tamoxifen's Mental Side Effects Are Real, Study Shows

TUESDAY, Sept. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Some women who take tamoxifen to treat or prevent breast cancer report experiencing a mental fogginess while on the drug, and researchers have now confirmed that there's a biological basis for those symptoms.

The researchers were able to isolate the cells in the human brain and nervous system that are harmed by tamoxifen therapy. And, in a second phase of the study conducted with mice, they were also able to find a different drug that could protect healthy cells from tamoxifen toxicity while offering no protection to cancer cells.

"Patients aren't always taken seriously when they report these mental side effects, but now we can say this is an organic syndrome to which we have to pay attention," said Mark Noble, senior study author.

"And, now we know there are paths to protection. This is not a hopeless situation," added Noble, a professor of biomedical genetics, and director of the University of Rochester Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Institute, in Rochester, N.Y.

Tamoxifen works by blocking the action of estrogen in breast tissue, which keeps estrogen-sensitive breast cancers from growing, according to the U.S. National Cancer Institute. Compared to other forms of cancer treatments, it has relatively few serious side effects. However, in some women who take it, tamoxifen causes problems with thinking.

One expert was pleased to see new scientific support for what she's observed in her clinical practice.

"There is a subset of women who report this mental fog while on tamoxifen. Often, this improves over time. They initially experience this very noticeable side effect, but then it improves. We often tell women to try to stick it out because it may get better," said Dr. Jane Carleton, a breast cancer specialist at the North Shore-LIJ Cancer Institute in Lake Success, N.Y., who was not involved with the new study.

Carleton said she was happy to see that the current study was able to validate that there was a reason that some women experience the mental fog while taking tamoxifen. And, she said she was even happier to see that there might be a potential treatment for this side effect.

"Every time we can improve quality of life and still treat cancer, it's a win," she said, but noted that it would still be years before this drug might be available.

For the study, Noble and his research team first sought to identify whether brain and central nervous system cells were sensitive to tamoxifen. They found one type of cell that was particularly vulnerable to the drug. After just two days of exposure to tamoxifen at levels similar to those someone in treatment would receive, 75 percent of these cells died.

"Tamoxifen causes cell death and suppression of cell division in these cells," Noble said.

The next step was to try to find a medication that could protect these cells from tamoxifen while still allowing the drug to keep its cancer-fighting ability. The researchers reviewed data on drugs that were already approved for use in humans or that were in clinical trials.

Noble said by looking at these types of drugs, they could save time because they already know that such drugs work in the body and that they're not toxic. They found one drug, currently called AZD6244, that protected the brain cells of mice against tamoxifen in their own study.

Scientists note, however, that research with animals often fails to provide similar results in humans.

"AZD6244 is being studied for cancer therapy. It protects normal cells, but it doesn't protect cancer cells. It may even make cancer cells more sensitive to some types of therapies," Noble said.

Noble said this work needs to be replicated by other researchers, and added that "it's essential that we find ways of treating cancer without causing this type of damage."

Results of the study were published online Sept. 17 in the Journal of Neuroscience.

More information

Learn more about tamoxifen and other hormone therapies for cancer from the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

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Suicides Rose Worldwide After 2008 Economic Crisis: Study

TUESDAY, Sept. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Effects of the 2008 global economic crisis could be to blame for increased suicide rates in the United States and other countries, according to a new study.

Researchers analyzed data from 54 countries and found a marked rise in suicides in the wake of the economic meltdown. The increase occurred mainly in men and in countries with higher levels of job losses.

An estimated 5,000 more male suicides occurred worldwide than would normally have been expected in 2009, according to the study.

The overall suicide rate among men rose 3.3 percent that year, with increases mainly in the 27 European countries (4.2 percent) and 18 North and South American countries (6.4 percent) included in the study, according to the findings, which were published online Sept. 17 in the journal BMJ.

The largest increases in Europe occurred among men aged 15 to 24 and in the Americas among men aged 45 to 64, according to a journal news release. There was no change in suicide rates among European women, while a small increase was seen among women in the Americas.

In Europe, the largest increase in male suicide rates (about 13 percent) occurred in new European Union member states Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania and Slovenia.

Data from 2010 was available from 20 European countries and showed that the rate of male suicide was nearly 11 percent higher than in 2009.

In 2009, male suicides increased by nearly 9 percent in the United States and Canada, and rose by more than 6 percent in Caribbean and Central American countries. There was a smaller increase in South American nations.

The study adds to evidence that the 2008 global economic crisis led to a rise in suicide rates in affected countries, said researchers Shu-Sen Chang, of the University of Hong Kong, and colleagues at the universities of Oxford and Bristol, in England. They said their findings are "likely to be an underestimate of the true global impact of the economic crisis on suicide."

The researchers said increases in suicide are likely only the tip of the iceberg of emotional distress related to the recession. For every suicide, about 30 to 40 people make a suicide attempt, and for every suicide attempt about 10 people have suicidal thoughts.

"Urgent action is needed to prevent the economic crisis from further increasing suicides," the study authors said. "[Job-creation programs] may help offset the impact of recession on suicide."

One expert said the stress of not having a job can lead to several factors that increase the risk of suicide.

"Unemployment appears to lead to an increase in anxiety and depression -- two psychiatric symptoms that might be intermediate steps toward suicide," said Dr. Robert Dicker, associate director of the division of child and adolescent psychiatry at North Shore-LIJ, in New Hyde Park, N.Y. "More unemployment, more family distress, more losses [of status and friends] also most likely are involved."

"All of the above also may lead to increased alcohol and drug use, which also are risk factors for suicide," Dicker said. The fact that the increase in suicide rates was more marked among the middle-aged men in the United States also is significant, he added.

"At a developmental time when one should be settled and comfortable [with] plans for the future and retirement before them, the stress wrought by the economic crisis appears to be even more stressful for this age group," Dicker said. "With decreased available money, people may be even more reluctant to seek evaluations and treatment from mental-health providers."

Another expert was not surprised that the increased risk of suicide was greatest among men.

"Men are [still] likely to be the main earner in the family, and thus more affected," said Dr. Alan Manevitz, a clinical psychiatrist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. Men are more shamed by the loss of their job, as many men's identities are tied to their jobs, he added. They are also less likely to seek help.

"Another factor in the U.S. might have been the high rate of home foreclosures," Manevitz said. "More than a million people recently have lost their homes, about as many as did in the Great Depression when the population was about half what it is today. For most Americans, our homes are our primary investment and the locus of our identities and social support systems. When combined with the loss of job, home loss has been found to be one of the most common economic strains associated with suicides."

More information

The Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance offers advice about suicide prevention.

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Researchers study ways to make stronger materials in 3-D

Sep. 17, 2013 — Aided by funding from NASA and using methods similar to 3-D printing, researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology are running computer simulations of processes that could lead to stronger, more durable materials for the space agency.

The Missouri S&T researchers also plan to fabricate some of these new materials soon, says Dr. Frank Liou, director of the university's Laser Aided Manufacturing Process (LAMP) Laboratory and the Michael and Joyce Bytnar Professor of Product Innovation and Creativity.

For the past 15 years, Liou and his colleagues have been developing a fabrication method known as additive manufacturing. The process involves the use of high-powered lasers to melt small particles of powdered materials as they exit a nozzle to create three-dimensional shapes, layer by layer. The technique is similar to 3-D printing, which has grown in popularity in recent years.

According to Liou, the additive approach applies to a broad range of manufacturing -- from the fabrication of large aircraft components to minuscule biomaterials used in surgical procedures. Some of Liou's students who enjoy fishing even joke about using LAMP's additive manufacturing tools to make a canoe, layer by layer.

Additive manufacturing approaches result in a denser, stronger material than conventional methods, such as milling, machining or forging of metals. Liou, who also directs Missouri S&T's manufacturing engineering program, says steel parts made using the additive method are 10 percent stronger than steel that is machined.

In his latest research, Liou is combining additive manufacturing with more conventional approaches to creating materials. He calls the approach "hybrid manufacturing."

With hybrid manufacturing, S&T researchers could apply an additive manufacturing technique to create aircraft components from two different metals -- perhaps steel and copper -- and then smooth the parts' rough edges using automated computer-numerical control machining.

Liou has received about $660,000 from NASA to develop computer models of various additive manufacturing approaches. He believes the models will lead to a greater understanding of how layered materials adhere, or bond, to the surface on which they are deposited.

"In many aerospace or biomedical applications, you cannot afford metal fatigue," or cracking of the material, Liou says. "It is important to understand how well a deposited metal bonds to the surface."

Liou recently received another $750,000 from NASA to support the next step of this research: the fabrication of new materials not generally observed in nature. The research could lead to stronger metals as well as a way to repair expensive components instead of scrapping them, Liou says.

"Some dies or molds could cost a quarter of a million dollars to replace," Liou says.

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Agenus brain cancer vaccine improves survival in mid-stage study

(Reuters) - Biotechnology company Agenus Inc said its experimental brain cancer vaccine increased the survival of patients without their cancer worsening in a mid-stage trial, compared with the standard treatment.

Agenus shares jumped as much as 34 percent on the Nasdaq on Monday morning.

The vaccine, codenamed HSPPC-96, showed an almost 18 month median progression-free survival — a 160 percent increase versus current standard treatment of radiation combined with chemotherapy drug temozolomide.

The vaccine was being used in combination with the standard treatment to treat patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive type of tumor which affects the brain.

Agenus plans to discuss a late-stage trial with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, based on the trial data.

A preliminary analysis of the study in May had showed that the vaccine had a 146 percent increase in progression-free survival when compared with the standard-of-care.

"We are impressed by the data and look forward to feedback from the FDA regarding next steps," Roth Capital Partners analyst Joseph Pantginis wrote in a note, raising the price target on the stock to $15.

It was up 22 percent at $3.34 at midday after touching a high of $3.68.

(Reporting By Adithya Venkatesan; Editing by Joyjeet Das)

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Cancer Drug May Be Helpful for Diabetes, Mouse Study Hints

SUNDAY, Sept. 15 (HealthDay News) -- The cancer drug Zaltrap (aflibercept) could help treat diabetes, suggest findings from research using mice.

Scientists say they've identified a molecular pathway (a series of interactions among proteins) involved in the development of diabetes, and also found that the drug can regulate this pathway.

Zaltrap is approved in the United States to treat metastatic (spreading) colorectal cancer and the wet form of the eye disease macular degeneration. The drug inhibits the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) pathway, thereby blocking the growth of blood vessels into tumors and starving them of oxygen.

The researchers, from the Stanford University School of Medicine, identified a series of proteins that link VEGF inhibitors and blood glucose levels.

"We were surprised to find that this drug currently used in patients for cancer treatment had beneficial effects on diabetes in laboratory mice and could, potentially, in humans," Dr. Calvin Kuo, a professor of medicine, said in a university news release.

Scientists caution, however, that research with animals often fails to provide similar results in humans.

"Proteins involved in this pathway could be targeted for the development of new diabetes therapies," Amato Giaccia, a professor of cancer biology and director of radiation oncology, said in the news release.

The findings appeared online Sept. 15 in two articles in the journal Nature Medicine.

The researchers said there have been indications that VEGF inhibitors such as Zaltrap could influence blood glucose levels in people, but no human studies have been conducted.

"Anecdotally, there have been reports that diabetic patients who have been prescribed VEGF inhibitors to treat their cancer are better able to control their diabetes," Kuo said.

Three co-authors of Kuo's study are employees at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, which makes aflibercept.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases has more about diabetes.

Copyright c 2013?HealthDay. All rights reserved.

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Exercise, diet habits improving among youth: study

By Genevra Pittman

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Over the last decade, U.S. kids and teenagers have started getting slightly more exercise and reduced their television watching, a new study suggests.

Using surveys conducted in middle and high schools, researchers also found increases in the number of days youth reported having breakfast each week and in how often they ate fruits and vegetables. Those trends have corresponded to a leveling off in obesity rates, but not a decline, the study showed.

"I would like to believe that all the public health efforts focusing on increasing physical activity and increasing fruit and vegetable consumption are having an effect, because that seems to be a pattern," Ronald Iannotti, the lead author on the study from the University of Massachusetts Boston, said.

"The fact that (obesity) is leveling off, that's a surprise and a major change from the steady increase that we've seen over time," Iannotti, who worked on the study while at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Bethesda, Maryland, said. "This is great news."

He and co-author Jing Wang analyzed surveys given to a nationally-representative sample of students in sixth through tenth grades in 2001-2002, 2005-2006 and 2009-2010 as part of the Health Behavior in School-aged Children study. Each survey period included responses from between 9,000 and 15,000 adolescents.

The researchers found "encouraging" trends on measures of most diet and lifestyle habits.

For example, the number of days each week that kids reported being physically active for at least 60 minutes increased from 4.3 in 2001-2002 to 4.5 in 2009-2010, with similar trends among boys and girls. Likewise, youth reported eating breakfast on three school days each week on the first survey and 3.3 days on the last.

The average number of hours students spent watching TV each day fell from 3.1 to 2.4, with drops in both weekday and weekend viewing.

Frequency of fruit and vegetable consumption also rose slightly over time - although it remained at less than one daily serving of each, on average - and consumption of sweets and soft drinks fell.

However, the proportion of survey participants who were overweight or obese, based on their own height and weight reports, did not decrease, the researchers wrote Monday in Pediatrics.

Rates of obesity - defined as body mass index, a measure of weight in relation to height, in the 95th percentile or higher - rose from 10.3 percent in 2001-2002 to 12.7 percent in 2005-2006, then held steady through the final survey.

"This is encouraging, because at least it looks like things have kind of stabilized, and at least they're not going in the wrong direction," Marian Huhman, who studies health communication and health campaigns at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, said.

"Maybe it just takes a few years for the outcomes of obesity changes to follow from the behavioral changes," she added.

Huhman, who wasn't involved in the study, pointed to the "effort on many, many fronts" that may have led to the positive changes in physical activity, sedentary behavior and diet - such as walk-to-school programs and campaigns targeting food marketing.

However, adolescents "are still largely not meeting the recommendations for amount of screen time, amount of physical activity (and) amount of fruit and vegetable consumption," she said.

Iannotti echoed that concern.

"Although they're increasing, the recommendation is five servings of fruits and vegetables per day. And we're looking at one or two," he told Reuters Health.

"There's still vast room for improvement."

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/cxXOG Pediatrics, online September 16, 2013.

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Loved Ones Stay Attuned to Spouse's Emotions, Study Says

SATURDAY, Sept. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Older adults are less able to read emotions on their partner's face, but they do not lose the ability to make judgments about their spouse's emotions based on knowledge gained during their years together, according to a new study.

"When judging others' emotions in real life, people do not exclusively rely on emotional expressions," explained the study's lead researcher, Antje Rauers of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Germany. "Instead, they use additional information, such as accumulated knowledge about a given situation and a particular person."

The study, released online in advance of print publication in the journal Psychological Science, involved 100 couples. Some were between 20 and 30 years old, while others were between 69 and 80 years old. The participants were first asked to identify specific emotions on various faces.

"We started by replicating past research, showing that older adults are typically worse than younger adults at interpreting emotions through facial expressions," Rauers noted in a news release from the Association for Psychological Science.

The couples were then asked to use their cellphone to record their own emotions as well as the feelings of their partner six times a day over the course of two weeks.

Sometimes, couples were together so they could see each other's facial expressions. The couples were often apart during the day, however, and had to estimate how their spouse felt at that particular moment.

The study showed the older couples were less able to read their partner's facial expressions than the younger couples. But the researchers noted there were no age differences in how well the couples estimated how their partner felt when they were not together. They concluded some brain processes linked to understanding and empathy between couples remain stable with age.

"Reading emotional expressions may become more difficult with age, but using one's knowledge about a familiar person remains a reliable strategy throughout adulthood," Rauers said in the news release.

"This is really good news, given that the overwhelming majority of research findings testifies an age-related decline in many competencies," Rauers said. "Our data suggest that knowing your loved ones well is an important resource that stays available throughout life."

More information

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has more about the aging brain.

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